To B, or not to B: 80’s B Movies from Empire International Pictures.

The best place to see a movie is in a cinema. Even the best home system won’t live up to the experience of the massive screen and great sound of a decent cinema. Watching most movies at the cinema I am making up for lost time as I didn’t go very often as a kid, instead watching most movies on video. There was a time in the late 80’s early 90’s that I really got into low budget Sci-Fi and Horror B movies. There was always a certain amount of risk involved in this as for every Evil Dead there were a hatful of crap like Alien Private Eye. Empire International Pictures were responsible for some surprisingly watchable movies. They were formed in the early 80’s by Charles Band as a small distribution company they also produced a few movies. The best known are probably the Re-Animator and Ghoulies movies but my personal favourite was always Trancers, it was also directed by Charles Band. Trancers is the holly grail of 80’s B movies and is actually better than a lot of the mainstream sci-fi films of the time. As such it deserves its own article, it will duly oblige one day. In the late 80’s the company ran into fanatical difficulties and I understand eventually collapsed. Shortly before it did it started making slightly higher budget movies. I don’t know if this is what bankrupted the company but it is possible. I remember seeing three of these movies when they first came out on video. None of them were particularly good but for some reason they stuck in my mind. Please forgive any inaccuracies in these descriptions, I am doing them mostly from memory and I haven’t seen them for nearly twenty years.

Arena: A space station set sci-fi movie about an interspecies fighting sport known as The Arena. A handicapping system is used, a beam of light that controls the competitors strength. Despite this a human has not won for fifty years. Steve Armstrong (Paul Satterfield) a cook, gets into a fight with an Arena fighter and is quickly picked up by his manager Quinn (Claudia Christian, best known for playing Susan Ivanova in Babylon 5). As he wins his fights Steve becomes a hero to humans on the station. All the usual sporting clichés are present such as corruption and a hero fighting back against the odds.

Robot Jox: Following a nuclear holocaust the world is split into two giant superpowers that encompass all surviving nations. They are basically East and West/America and Russia. Fifty years after the holocaust the two sides agree to outlaw war, instead deciding conflicts with a one on one gladiatorial battle. The fights are between giant robots, piloted by men know as Robot Jox. The movie revolves around a fight for the natural recourses of Alaska and the subsequent rematch. The robot battle scenes use stop motion animation and look really dated after just twenty years. The movie should have been Empire International Pictures biggest film, when the company went under the rights were sold to Epic Productions who finished the movie.

Crash and Burn: Marketed as “From the makers of Robotjox and Arena” and sometimes called Robot Jox 2, Crash and Burn is not a sequel to Robot Jox. Unicom is a corporation that basically rules the world following an economic crash. Their motto is “life, liberty, and the pursuit of economic stability”. In order to achieve this computers and robots have been outlawed (for some reason) by Unicom who use robots or synthetic humans themselves. Set at a remote TV station where the workers are stranded by a deadly “thermo-storm” caused by the depleted ozone, they also have to one of Unicom’s killer robots (that borrows heavily from The Terminator) after them. There only help: a delivery man and his plan to resurrect an old eighty foot tall robot that (conveniently) lies rusting out back. There is a neat rip-off of the scene from The Thing where they cut themselves to prove they are human with a good twist. There is also some interesting casting, the main stars Paul Ganus, Megan Ward and Bill Moseley have had reasonable careers on TV and in B movies, Jack McGee is a respected character actor, Ralph Waite is best known as John Walton Sr. in The Waltens and is still working today aged 81, and Eva La Rue will be recognisable to CSI fans as Natalia Boa Vista form CSI Miami. Information on the subject is a little sketchy but my understanding is Crash and Burn was made by Empire International Pictures possibly as early as 1988 but not released by them. The production and distribution company listed is Full Moon Entertainment, another Charles Band company mainly responsible for horror movies.

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Looking for the name of a movie that I had recorded in the early 90’s, it dealt with a king being murdered, his sword being broken and the queen hidding both the pieces of the sword and the infant prince in a cave with a magical being. This was recorded from either cinemax or showtime..not sure.

Thanks for reading and commenting. As mentioned above, my understanding is as described above, the movie was shot by Empire International Pictures but never released. Charles Band then took it with when he started Full Moon Entertainment, it became one of their early releases shortly after changing their name from Full Moon Productions and releasing their seminal movie Puppet Master in 1989. Let me know if you have any further or different information.

Hi Fandango – think you might be mixing up CRASH & BURN with ROBOT JOX. When Empire got sold off to Trans-World in 1988, ROBOT JOX was still unfinished, so the newly renamed ‘Epic Pictures’ put up the budget to complete it. Equally, films such as CATACOMBS and ARENA remained on the shelf (at least in the US, they were released in most of Europe) and didn’t come out until 1992 or so.

Whereas, CRASH & BURN was not put into production until Full Moon was formed, but it did aim to ride on the coat-tails of the larger budgeted, theatrically released ROBOT JOX… guess it could be seen as Band attempting a mockbuster of one of his own films!

Good write up! I can elaborate on a little bit more as it relates to the final days of Empire Pictures. Empire, like many of the independent film companies of the 1980’s and 1990’s (Cannon, New World, Carolco, Hemdale, TWE) were all financed heavily by the French owned bank, Credit Lyonnais. Empire’s debt to CL was more than $26 million and by 1988 was in default, primarily due to the studios being located in Italy.

The bank came in and pushed Charles Band out as CEO, and brought in two Hollywood producers who were also CL clients, Eduard Sarlui and Moshe Diamant (who is now a big Hollywood producer), the duo owned TWE – Trans World Entertainment, a major theatrical/home video distributor at that time. CL then structured a new company, Epic Pictures Entertainment to take over the assets of Empire Pictures which Sarlui and Diamant were installed as principal partners and they brought in Irwin Yablans to run the company as Mr. Yablans had worked as a producer for Empire’s films that were still in production at the time of CL coming in to liquidate the company.

Unfortunately what happened over time is that CL was discovered as being heavily involved in predatory lending practices and were trying to conceal Empire’s bad debts from other creditors. When Sarlui and Diamant discovered the scheme, they sued and CL forcibly removed both of them from the company. I’d imagine that the reason many of Empire’s later films such as “Arena”, “Ghost Town” and “Robot Jox” went into production for over a year was because of the line of credit CL was issuing to the company when it went under. According to an interview with Diamant, the initial credit line to Empire Pictures was about $50 million and CL increased it to $200 million only if they consolidated Empire into Epic and Trans World as a larger company with a larger film library.

The interesting kicker that really started all of this happened when the now-disgraced Italian financier Giancarlo Parretti made an offer in 1989 to buy both Empire and Trans World and CL told him no. Instead, they foolishly loaned him money in exchange for bribes to take over Cannon Films from Menahem Golan and Yoram Globus. Cannon’s debt to CL was more than $500 million. He then renamed Cannon as Pathe Communications, paid down its debt and in 1990, CL issued him an additional $888 million to merge Pathe into the buy out of MGM studios.

At the time, Parretti looted the studio and in less than a year, the new MGM-Pathe Studios collapsed under a mountain of debt and Parretti was thrown out. In an effort to revalue the investment that CL lost in the Cannon/Pathe/MGM merger, CL had to foreclose on MGM and repossess its entire stock. They then came after all of the other independent film companies that they had issued loans to including Hemdale, Epic, Trans World, Carolco and 21st Century Films, among others.

Today if you buy any of the movies from the former Empire Pictures, Cannon Films, as well as Hemdale Films, Epic, TWE or 21st Century, you will notice that MGM bares its logo on the DVD covers and this is because all of these companies are all in MGM’s current library. This is because the bank illegally came in and took the assets and put them into MGM to try and get back its investment that it lost during the Parretti years and under US Banking Law, MGM had to be sold off by 1997 as Credit Lyonnais was a foreign bank which it had to relinquish control of. Parretti, to the best of my knowledge, has never been formally sentenced to prison for his role in nearly bringing down half of the film industry during his painful reign.

But there was a great deal of litigation between these companies and CL. Charles Band, Moshe Diamant and Eduard Sarlui were only the tip of the ice berg when it came to problems with CL. The producers that ran Hemdale Films for example, John Daly and Derek Gibson also sued CL after the bank came in and repossessed the entire company and sold off the rights to the “Terminator” films to Carolco Pictures for far less than its initial market value in 1990. CL also had a huge reputation for engaging in equity subordination and fraudulent transfer of company assets (as they did with these companies assets and putting them into MGM without their permission). Menahem Golan also had never ending problems with CL, not only at Cannon, but his then-new company, 21st Century apparently owed CL nearly $50 million and then he counter-sued.

I hope that sheds a little bit of light on things. It was an interesting time back in the 1980’s and 1990’s on the business side of the film industry. I’ve extensively researched Credit Lyonnais, Parretti and its interrelationships with all of these companies including Empire, Epic, TWE, as well as MGM. They were interesting and very controversial days back then!

Great stuff, John! There’s a very interesting article on the web that directly relates to the Credit Lyonnais scandal which basically brought down the old-school b-movie industry (well, not entirely, but near enough!).

It’s called, “Special Effects In Hollywood – How To Make Bad Loans
Disappear”. Worth a look – it’s definitely a fascinating subject. Even more interestingly, Charlie Band managed to extricate himself from the whole mess with nary a scratch. He’s always been quite the survivor!

I recently read “Empire of the B’s: The Mad World of Charles Band” and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I was especially interested in the relationship with Band and Irwin Yablans and what happened when Credit Lyonnais took over Empire and brought in Irwin when the company was renamed Epic. I am currently reading Irwin Yablans’ book “The Man Who Created Halloween” which is an exceptional story of Irwin’s career as a producer and studio executive which emphasizes a little bit more on what happened at Empire Pictures:

This is an excerpt from the following which might be interesting for your readers: (Pages 258-260 of The Man Who Created Halloween, by Irwin Yablans):

“I returned to Italy to finish the picture. Diane came with me, and during our last weeks in Rome, we were invited to lunch by Eduardo Sarlui. I had known Sarlui for years. A Dutch refugee, he owned theaters in Latin America and had, in fact, been my first foreign customer at Compass. An astute film buyer, Eduardo had offered to buy Latin American rights to Halloween only moments after our first screening in Milan. Sarlui had invited some bank officials from Credit Lyonnais to join us and I got the feeling that this might be more than a social afternoon. Eduardo was a big man, physically, and had a prodigious appetite. We spent a long Italian afternoon eating and drinking, but the conversation had much to do with Empire Pictures and Charles Band. It appeared that the bank had become disenchanted with him, and I got the feeling that changes were being contemplated. “Is this some audition” I wondered.

When ‘Arena’ was completed, we returned to Los Angeles, and I went to Las Vegas to visit with Mom. She had begun treatments and was not doing well. She was so afraid and felt so helpless. Nothing I could do or say would change the inevitable outcome, and I dreaded the months of suffering that lay ahead. I was spared that horror. Mom died suddenly in the hospital only days later. I never knew the details, but the hospital listed her death as asphyxiation caused by choking. I never investigated what sounded to me like negligence by the hospital. I was grateful that her death had been swift and painless. It would have been an ordeal, otherwise. We buried Mom near Dad in Los Angeles. Of course, the funeral brought the family together. Frank and I managed a reconciliation of sorts, but the atmosphere was decidedly tense. It’s hard to recall the events surrounding that day. It’s as if I have deliberately erased them from memory.

While supervising post-production on ‘Arena’, it became clear that Eduardo Sarlui would be taking over Empire Pictures. Credit Lyonnais had poured millions into the venture with Charles Band and had run out of patience with what they considered his profligate spending and reckless mismanagement of the company. There were hints of inappropriate use of funds for personal use as well. Charlie was never the most efficient manager, and it was common knowledge that he spent money carelessly, but his objectives, as far as I could tell were usually selfless. I believed that Charlie wanted Empire to be a viable independent movie company and his sins had more to do with ego and poor management decisions than personal gain.

Sarlui called one day and asked If I would take him and the bankers from Credit Lyonnais with whom we had lunched in Italy now visiting Los Angeles fora harbor cruise on the Diana rose. It was an odd request and I gathered there was more to it than a recreational outing. Much of that afternoon’s conversation concerned the fate of Empire Pictures and I learned that Charlie Band’s days as head of the company were over. The bank was stepping in and would be restructuring the company. The entity would be headed by Sarlui and a colleague that he brought along by the name of Moshe Diamant. Diamant was an Israeli film producer who had become a confidante of Eduardo’s. A stocky young man with a brusque manner, he was enamored with Hollywood and celebrities. Moshe was hardly perfect casting for the job, but I could soon tell he was smart, ambitious and clever. Sarlui may have had trouble selling him to the sophisticated European bankers, and that’s where I came in. They needed an industry insider with a recognizable name to complement Sarlui and Diamant. I was their choice. Any loyalties that I felt toward Charlie were negated by the simple reality that Ban was history-finished; and that much was decided. There was also the matter of substantial monies owed to me by Empire Pictures that Band was unable to pay. Sarlui and Credit Lyonnais offered me a very lucrative production deal with the new company, which they renamed Epic Pictures. I would receive all the money owed to me by Charlie and a guarantee for two new films that would be decided upon later. Sadly, Charlie felt I had betrayed him, but that was simply not the truth. He had squandered a splendid opportunity and I had no one but himself to blame. I had no hand in the coup, and I tried to explain to Charlie, but he chose to believe otherwise. Too bad; I have always had great respect for the man, and I am happy to report that we eventually patched up our differences.

Epic Pictures turned out to be a fiasco. Sarlui and Moshe Diamant were about as inept at running a movie company as a pair could be.”

Anyway, thought that was an interesting little commentary from Yablans’ point of view with how things were at Empire/Epic. Certainly tells another side of the story, compared to how Band remembered things in his book interview for “Empire of the B’s.”

Fascinating stuff, John. And so glad you enjoyed the Empire book! I think the truth probably rests somewhere between the two accounts, to be honest. Charlie had every good reason to believe that Yablans had screwed him over Empire, as Yablans had a track record of doing so (Band saw little money from his Compass International releases, was gradually pushed out of Meda/Media by Irwin & Joe Wolf, and Yablans later claimed a very large percentage of PARASITE’s profits). But whether or not Yablans was involved, there’s no way that Band could have kept control of Empire post-1988. Very few (if any) b-movie studios financed by Credit Lyonnais survived the fallout much beyond 1990…

I think you’re correct on that point Dave. There is probably some truth between both accounts and usually when controversy erupts between two parties, there are two sides to the story. Nonetheless, the Empire days were an interesting period of time. And as mentioned in my earlier post on here from July, 2012, Empire, along with Epic, Trans World (Sarlui’s other company), Hemdale Films, Gladden Entertainment, Carolco Pictures, Cannon Films, 21st Century Films and Dino De Laurentiis Films were all consolidated into MGM in the early 1990’s after Credit Lyonnais foolishly financed Giancarlo Parretti’s take over of Cannon/Pathe which merged into MGM Studios. I’ve researched the CL scandal into Hollywood for many many years and have a stack of news articles that is three inches thick. It would make a great movie in my opinion one day. Even though Parretti was a crook and was part of the reason why so many of these companies eventually went out of business, it was in fact CL under the direction of Georges Vigon and Francois Gille who orchestrated many of the predatory loans and illegal bank transfers that culminated into these companies disappearing forever and ultimately into MGM so they could get their loans back by 1997. The only B-movie studio that managed to survived this mess was New Line Cinema which of course grew and prospered until Warner Bros took it over a few years ago. New World Pictures probably would have survived had they not over expanded far too quickly… and Film Ventures… there’s a story that needs to be resurrected. I’ve often contemplated writing a book about Ed Montoro, the notorious man that Hollywood chooses to completely forget about.